I Like You That Way
by insertsnarkhere
Summary: How John and Rogue got together… Prequel to ‘Knocked Up’ COMPLETE!
1. The One with the Break Up

Summary: How John and Rogue got together… Prequel to 'Knocked Up'

Disclaimer: Property of Marvel and Fox and Stan Lee and blah blah blah...

A/N: I don't think you'll need to read 'Knocked Up' before reading this story but it'll probably help a bit in later chapters.

Anyhoo, hope everyone who read that will like this one too!

Big thanks to **CodenameCali** for giving me the idea to write the prequel. WOO!!

* * *

Rogue could feel her eyes glazing over. Literally.

Bobby was babbling about something…and for the life of her, she couldn't remember what the hell it was. It was probably something ice or snow or frozen or winter related, they were the only things that got him this excited. He kept talking and she nodded at appropriate intervals. He didn't seem to notice that her attention had wandered off.

Her gaze roamed over the rec room. Peter and Jones were sitting at one of the larger the tables by the windows, doing some kind of model airplane project. It looked like Jones was unintentionally getting high from the glue fumes because he kept giggling at odd moments. Kitty was helping Siryn with her homework. Jubilee looked like she was suppose to be doing homework also but was instead doodling on the palm of her hand with her blue pen.

Rogue sighed softly, wishing she had a blue pen too so she could have something to do instead of listening this mindless chatter.

But what she really wanted though was for John to be here too. Then at least Bobby's attention would be on somebody else when she nodded off.

The three of them usually hung out together – mostly at Bobby's insistence that his girlfriend and his best friend should get to know each other. She thought the whole thing was going to be awkward but John somehow had the knack to make her feel at ease. He cracked a joke that had made her laugh and after that, it was like they had been friends forever – sort of like how John and Bobby seemed to have been friends forever.

She could feel her eyelids droop.

"Rogue!"

She started, covering up her yawn by coughing into her hand. "I'm sorry…what?"

Bobby had a sour look on his face. "You weren't listening…"

"I'm sorry." Rogue smiled apologetically. She reached for Bobby's hand but as soon as she moved, he flinched. Her hand was left suspended in the air for a split-second before she pulled back.

She wanted to be surprised by his reaction but she wasn't.

She sometimes wondered why he even bothered asking her to be his girlfriend.

He kissed her a total of three times in the four months they had been going out. The first time she felt like she was kissing an ice sculpture and the kiss left her shivering for days afterwards. The second time was so brief she wasn't really sure they had done anything and only knew that they had when she saw the self-satisfied grin on his face. The third time lasted a little longer but ended up with him pushing her away and gasping for air. And after that third time, no matter how times she said she was sorry, he was always hesitant about touching her even through the layers and layers of clothing she always had on.

"I should get started on my homework…" She got up and walked away without another word.

Bobby watched her go, wondering why she looked so mad.

* * *

Bobby knocked on the door to Rogue's room. He had tried talking to her at dinnertime but got, instead, Jubilee flipping him a penny and telling him to get a clue.

"Rogue? Are you in there?" He opened the door nervously. The last time he opened the door to her room without express permission to enter, he got lemon juice squirted into his eyes by Kitty who was trying to make some kind of homemade facial mask. But this time, there was nothing being squirted in his eyes because there was no one in the room.

Her book bag was gone so Bobby thought maybe she went to the library to do her homework.

But on his way to the library, he passed John's room and even with the closed door, he could hear Rogue's melodic laughter coming from inside.

_What the fuck?_

Bobby pressed an ear against the door, straining to hear what they might possibly be doing.

He heard her say, "Stop moving!"

"I think the whole point of this is to be quicker than your opponent, Rogue."

Then Bobby could hear…slapping?

He opened the door in a rush, expecting to see John doing some sort of bodily harm to his girlfriend. But instead he saw John lazily leaning against the windowsill. Rogue was standing in front of him between his outstretched legs. Rogue had her palms up, hovering under John's down-turned hands. She was trying desperately to slap the top of his hands but John was too fast for her and all she ended up slapping was air. When it was his turn to slap her hands, though, he never seemed to miss. The tops of her hands were already pink.

She was laughing – something Bobby hadn't heard in a long while now, at least not with him. And he doesn't remember the last time she wasn't wearing her gloves. But he saw that their touches were so brief, they must have not activated her mutation and that was why John was still standing, smirking at her whenever she thought she had gotten him.

It took them another five minutes before they realize they had company.

"You need something?" John said, lowering his hands.

Rogue turned slightly, looking over her shoulder to see who John was talking to. Bobby thought he saw a brief glimpse of disappointment flash across her face.

No, he must have just imagined that.

"Oh, hey, Bobby," she said softly. She reached over John to get to her gloves that were lying on the windowsill. Bobby didn't want to notice how she placed a hand on John's shoulder to balance herself while she grabbed her gloves or how she leaned against him slightly, her hair tickling against his chin. He didn't want to notice how John had a hand on her waist, steadying her gently.

They looked too much like… No, he didn't want to even think that…

"So…um…I thought we could work on that book report together," Bobby said, shifting from one foot to the other awkwardly.

"I don't think you can help me with _Anna Karenina_ when you're writing about _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, Bobby." She looked at John when she finished putting on her gloves. He was lighting a cigarette, opening the window a fraction. Bobby realized that was why they were by the windowsill – John was probably about to have his after-dinner smoke like he usually does when Rogue came by. She was probably on her way to do her homework when she stopped here. It was all very innocent. He wanted to believe that. "What book did you get, anyways?"

"Fucking_ Pride and Prejudice_."

Rogue laughed again, her laughter lilting in a way Bobby had never heard before. "The Professor must have been in a good mood that day."

"Real good mood… How did I get stuck with Jane Austen and Pryde got Hunter Thompson? I've read _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas _like a million times!"

"Maybe that's why you got Jane Austen instead."

John blew out a puff of smoke in frustration. "Maybe. Or it's someone's idea of a sick joke."

"Have you even started reading it?"

John shrugged. "Managed somehow to get to page two…"

"I would trade with you but I don't think _Anna Karenina_ is going to be much better. Did you see how thick my book is?"

"I've read it already."

Rogue arched a brow at him. "You've read _Anna Karenina_?"

"Don't look so shocked. You wanna know how it ends?"

"Look, I've read _Pride and Prejudice_. You can help me with my paper and I can help you with yours. Then neither of us has to read anything since you seem so adamantly against anything by Jane Austen."

"And you've got nothing against Tolstoy?"

Rogue threw her hands in the air. "He's boring!"

"That's your argument for not reading the book, D'Ancanto? You should really look into becoming a prosecutor or something." John laughed, flicking the ash off the end of his cigarette outside.

"Thanks for the career advice, _Allerdyce_," she said, poking him in the side.

Bobby cleared his throat loudly, trying to get them both to realize that he was still in the room, being completely ignored.

"I'm gonna stay here and help this idiot with his paper, okay, Bobby? I'll see you tomorrow."

"Um…sure…yeah…" That's what he said out loud but what he really to say was something he couldn't – not without looking like some kind of possessive irrational jerk.

Bobby left the room, leaving the door open.

When he looked back, the door was still open – which made him feel slightly better about leaving them alone. But he couldn't help feel suspicious when he also saw that Rogue hadn't moved away from between John's legs, watching him as he blew smoke rings out the window.

* * *

Rogue walked into the classroom, making her way toward her seat when she noticed John and Bobby have a rather intense discussion about something. No, discussion wasn't the word to describe how they were talking – it was more like an argument.

But the moment she came up next to them, about to ask what was going on, they stopped abruptly.

"We'll talk about this later," Bobby said.

"There's nothing to talk about, Drake, because there's nothing going on," John gritted out between clenched teeth. He turned away and sat down next to a startled Peter. Peter who never had anyone sit next to him since he took up about 99 percent of the desk space with his chest-size alone. And the last person he expected to sit next to him was John Allerdyce.

Rogue turned to Bobby. "What was that all about? And why is he sitting over there? How come he's not sitting with us?"

"Maybe he wanted a change of scenery…" Bobby mumbled out, taking out his notebook.

Rogue wanted to ask him again what was going on but then Storm entered the room and class began.

* * *

"John! John! Wait a minute!" Rogue caught his arm before he made it into his next class.

"What is it, Rogue? I've got French with frigging Logan and I don't know what he'll do to me if I'm late again."

"What's going on with you? Why are you giving me the brush-off?"

"I'm not giving you the brush-off."

"You ignored me in the library, you ate lunch with Warren, you partnered with Jubilee in chemistry – which, by the way, she thought was, and I quote, 'too out-of-this-world weird.' What is going on? Did I do something?"

John blew out an aggravated breath, looking down at his shoes. "Why don't you go ask your boyfriend what the problem is?" he finally said.

"I'm asking you!"

"Bobby…"

"Bobby what?"

"He thinks…we're just hanging out too much. I'm just trying to…keep the peace, all right?"

Rogue narrowed her eyes at him, not believing a word he was saying. There was something more going on, something he was hiding. He was an accomplished liar, even on occasion fooling Dr Grey into believing his excuses, but Rogue knew when he was lying. She just had a sense about it.

The second bell rang shrilly, the one that signaled you had about five seconds to get to class or you'll be considered officially tardy. "I really have to go."

"All right…"

She watched him leave, knowing she had to have a talk with Bobby.

* * *

"Wh…what do you mean?" Bobby stuttered out.

Rogue sighed heavily. "I mean, I think we haven't been as close as before and we've kind of…I don't know…drifted apart…"

He was quiet for a moment, trying to keep any kind of emotion out of his voice. "Is there someone else?"

"No, Bobby…"

"Are you sure?" he bit out, angrily.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean? Is this what you and John were fighting about this morning? You think I was cheating on you with him?"

"You guys seem to have gotten real cozy, real quick," he spat.

"You were the one who wanted us to be friends!"

"So this is my fault?"

Rogue could only stare at him. She couldn't believe that this was Bobby Drake, all-around nice guy, the one who always kept an even temper no matter the situation. "There's no one to blame, Bobby," she said quietly. "John's your best friend and he wouldn't do that to you. And neither would I."

She started to walk away. Before she turned the corner and disappeared from his line of sight, he called out to her, "So now what?"

"I think we should start seeing other people."


	2. The One with the Chili Cheese Fries

"And that's when I started freebasing cocaine…"

Rogue snapped back to reality, looking at Jubilee incredulously. "What?"

Jubilee arched a brow at her. "Just checking if you were actually listening or not. What's going on with you?"

"Nothing…nothing…" Rogue said, distractedly.

They were walking toward their classroom. Rogue opened the door a fraction to walk in when Jubilee suddenly slammed it shut again with her hand. "Like seriously, Rogue… What's going on? You've been on – I don't know – Planet La-La for like three days now and it's seriously cramping my style. Are you and Bobby still fighting?"

Rogue was finally going to tell someone about the break-up – why was she hiding it anyways? – when Bobby came over, interrupting their conversation. "Uh…hey, Jubilee. Um…Rogue, could I talk to you for a second?"

Jubilee gave Rogue a questioning look to which Rogue shrugged, not knowing what to say to her, at least not in front of Bobby. Jubilee went inside the classroom reluctantly and left the two alone in the hallway.

"What do you want, Bobby?"

Three days ago, she told him they should see other people. And three days ago, he started giving her the silent treatment. He hadn't spoken to her, only sending her hurt and angry looks which would have made her feel guilty if it wasn't for the fact he did that every single time she walked into a room. After awhile, his looks lost all meaning.

"I just wanted to ask you… Um…I wanted to ask… Do you want to go to the dance with me?"

Rogue could only stare at him in stunned silence. She was just absolutely flabbergasted that he would ask her out to what Jubilee was considering to be the event of the year – a formal dance, the first one ever since the school opened. And she couldn't believe he would ask her like that, like she had never been his girlfriend for the past four months and they had just met only moments before. And didn't she make it crystal clear to him that they should see other people? Did she need to get a sky-writer to spell it out for him?

"Bobby…I don't think…"

"We would go as just friends, I swear," he said hurriedly. "I…um…I already have the suit and everything and I…um…I would really like to go with you… Please?"

He looked so sadly hopeful.

And all she really wanted to do was crush him under her feet. Grind him up and spit him out. Maybe slap him around a little bit – gloves off.

But she was a good girl. Her mama taught her how to be a gracious lady – you don't kick a dog when it was down.

_Damn Southern hospitality. _

"All right… But just as friends – nothing else. Absolutely nothing else. You'll get me punch, something to eat, agree with me AND Jubilee on everything we say, and then maybe one dance, if you're lucky and you don't piss me off." Bobby agreeable to everything she said, which made her narrow her eyes at him in warning. "Don't piss me off before then either."

* * *

She knocked vigorously at John's door. She was seeking sanctuary from Jubilee's need to go to the mall again to try on dresses.

She wasn't sure why she picked to hide out in John's room. She could have easily gone to Kitty's room or helped Logan with fixing his overused truck. But she liked being around John, especially since they were spending time together again after Bobby's little "intervention."

When he didn't answer her second round of knocking, she opened the door and found his usual messiness. On the floor were his dirty clothes, his sheets were half-on, half-off on the bed, a stack of library books that were probably overdue piled high on his desk, and his muddy shoes were lying in the doorway of his bathroom. John himself was not there though.

She made a path for herself toward the desk by clearing away his clothes with her foot, hoping to God that fuzzy thing that she just moved was a dust bunny and not something more sinister. She sat down, sighing heavily, and picked up one of the library books off his desk. As she was picking it up, though, a picture fell out from between the pages onto the floor. She recognized the picture as one that Jubilee took of them a few weeks ago. Rogue knew this because she had the same exact photo in her room, taped on her wall next to a postcard Logan sent her from Anchorage.

The picture was one of many Jubilee captured during a day a group of them had spent at Central Park. But this shot in particular wasn't staged or posed like the others, just a passing moment Jubilee was lucky to catch with her camera. Rogue remembered that day – it had been so cold and she kept close to John who took on the role of being her own personal radiator. In the picture, she was holding onto his arm while he leaned close, listening to what she was saying into his ear. She still couldn't remember what it was that she had said to him – maybe something silly – but it didn't matter. Whatever it was, he was laughing and it wasn't one of his sarcastic, you're-not-that-funny laughs. It was genuine and real.

She was damn glad Jubilee had her camera that day.

Rogue gave herself a mental shake, putting the picture back inside the book. Then she noticed the wooden boxes he had on his desk. She lifted the top on one and grinned at the pile of lighters hidden inside – everything from the cheap plastic lighters in all kinds of different colors to novelty lighters in the shapes of a bikini-clad woman, a frog, and a racing car. His favorite shark Zippo apparently had its own velvet-lined case complete with cleaning solution and wipes.

_He loves that lighter way too much._

She couldn't resist sneaking a peek inside the second box, expecting to see even more lighters, but gasped when she saw the packets of condoms inside.

She snapped the lid shut. She could feel her entire face turn red.

No, she wasn't even going to imagine _that_. Nope. Not _that_. Never crossed her mind. Not ever. To think about _that_ with John. Nuh-uh.

But her brain had other ideas.

Brain:_ You love it when he licks those lips… Mmm__ I bet he tastes good…_

Rogue:_ Shut up, brain… I'm not listening to you… _

Brain:_ So what do you think he__d be like as a lover__? Soft and tender and romantic? Or raw and hard and rough?_

Rogue:_ I said, stop it! He's just my friend! I would never think about those things with him!_

Brain:_ Don't even try to deny it, Rogue, you know you've thought about it with him…long before you became anyone__s girlfriend__ Remember? Late at night and you're feeling restless… Ooo, baby, yeah…_

She shot up to her feet. She needed to find something else to occupy her mind. A cold shower maybe…

But then the door swung open.

"Oh, hey, Rogue… What are you doing here?"

_Looking through your condom stash and thinking about how you might be in the sack._ "I…I was…hiding! Yeah, of course! Hiding!" she exclaimed, a little too loudly.

"Uh…okay… From what?"

"Jubilee!" she exclaimed again. "She…um…wanted to go to the mall again and I couldn't…couldn't go…"

John looked at her strangely. "You all right? You're all flushed…"

"Never better! Well…okay! Gotta run!"

"Wait a minute, I thought you were hiding."

"Um…yeah…I am…"

"You wanna go somewhere?"

Rogue hesitated, gnawing at her lip and trying to keep her mind from the gutter when she saw John unconsciously lick his own lips. She was startled when Jubilee could be heard screaming from somewhere in the mansion.

"ROGUE! WHERE ARE YOU, GIRL?! THERE'S A CUTE RED DRESS I SAW ONLINE THAT I WANT TO BUY FOR THE DANCE!! LET'S GO TRY TO FIND IT AT THE MALL!! OH, ROGUE-Y!!"

John and Rogue were both pretty sure Jubilee could be heard in Topeka – she was that loud.

Rogue had a decision to make: go with Jubilee and get dragged from one store after another until God knows when or go with John and pretend she never thought about him _that way_.

"ROGUE-Y! I HAVE A COUPON FOR THAT PIERCING PLACE TOO! YOU CAN WATCH AS I GET MY BELLY BUTTON PIERCED!"

Rogue turned to John and grabbed his arm, pulling him out the door. "Let's go."

* * *

"Sorry, sweetie, we're all out of apple." The waitress gave John an apologetic look. "We still have some cherry. Sandy made this killer chocolate mousse pie today too."

John closed his menu and handed it back to the waitress. "Nah, I'll just have some coffee then."

The waitress turned to Rogue. "What about you, honey?"

"Could I get a vanilla milk shake and the chili cheese fries, please?"

"Sure thing… Be right back…" The waitress walked away, calling out to the cook with their orders.

"Milk shake and chili cheese fries, huh?" John said with a smirk.

"A good balanced meal, if I do say so myself."

John chuckled, shaking his head.

The waitress came back with a pot of coffee, pouring it into a cup that was already on the table. Rogue watched as John spooned sugar into his coffee. She was more relaxed – her mind not thinking about _that_ now after being in the cold air for more than a few minutes and rubbing some snow on her face when John wasn't looking. She was glad that she went with him and away from the mansion, although she wasn't too thrilled that they had to 'borrow' (John's nice way of saying taking-without-permission) one of the cars from the garage.

"You come to this diner often? The waitress seems to know you," Rogue said as John took a sip of his coffee.

"A couple of times a week – especially when Dr Grey makes that gross meat loaf thing. What the hell does she put in that, anyways? Horse meat?"

Rogue giggled. "I think she makes those vegetarian meat loaves. She uses those fake meat products, the ones made out of beans or something."

"Well, that explains the taste…"

"She's just trying to get everybody to eat healthier."

John quirked a brow. "This coming from the girl who just ordered the chili cheese fries?"

"Shut up…" She would have made a face at him but the waitress came back with said chili cheese fries and her milk shake.

"Anything else I can get for you guys?"

"I think we're all set for now, thanks," John replied, as Rogue was too busy digging in – she doesn't even bother taking off her leather gloves.

Rogue slurped her shake. "Are you going to the dance?"

"No way…"

"Why not? Afraid of people seeing you in a tie?"

"Are you kidding? I can picture it now: corny decorations, disgusting food, fruity drinks, slow dancing to some cheesy Journey song…"

"Journey?"

"I figure Summers would probably be picking the music." John shrugged, taking another sip of coffee. "He lives in some kind of music Twilight Zone, I swear. Have you seen his iPod? It's filled with fucking ABBA, Backstreet Boys, Peter Cetera, and I'm pretty sure I saw a couple of Hilary Duff songs on there too."

"But it's going to be fun! Jubilee said she was going to spike the punch…"

John laughed. "I wouldn't expect any less from her. And yeah, I think I'll take a pass on spending the night watching you and Drake make lovey-dovey eyes at each other."

"I'm not going to make lovey-dovey eyes at him!"

"Aren't you going with him? It's all he can talk about, you know."

"Yes, I'm going with him…doesn't mean I'm going to make lovey-dovey eyes… And, by the way, for your information, I don't make lovey-dovey eyes…ever."

"All right, all right, whatever you say…" John held up his hands in mock surrender.

"I don't…" she muttered, shoving another fry into her mouth. "So if you're not coming to the dance, what are you doing? You'll probably be spending the entire night alone. The dance is about the only thing everyone is able to talk about these days."

"I'm planning a long evening of Star Wars, Back to the Future, Godfather, and any other trilogies I can get my hands on at video store. It's going to be really great. Better than some stupid dance, I can tell you that."

Rogue scoffed and slapped his hand away from her fries when he tried to take some.

* * *

She should have listened to John and made excuses not to come to this dance.

Bobby was trying his darnest to be – as John put it – lovey-dovey. Now if only he had been this way when they were still going out… She rolled her eyes at him whenever he tried to take her hand.

And John was right about another thing: Scott did pick out the music. She didn't know people still listened to Air Supply. She would have preferred 'NSYNC to this musical crap…

"Oh my God, I think this party got a lot more interesting," Jubilee whispered to Rogue, nodding toward the doorway of the gymnasium.

There stood John Allerdyce in a black suit – complete with a crisp white shirt and a pink striped tie – and on his arm was…

* * *

A/N: Yep, I'm leaving you guys hanging… Mmmhhhaaaahhhhhaaaahhhhaaaa…


	3. The One with the Pink Tie

She couldn't believe that it was only a few hours ago she was sitting in a poorly decorated gymnasium, listening to a man croon over and over again about how he was all out of love, and contemplating if a person could die from too much yawning.

Then again, she couldn't believe John Allerdyce would lower himself to show up at a school function with the most unlikely of dates.

But she knew she wasn't the only one who was glad he came – a lot of people wanted out of that gym and he had provided the plan.

One by one, they scrambled out of the gym – abandoning the dance like it was the Titanic. Even Kitty, who helped organize the dance with the teachers, grabbed Jubilee by the arm and begged desperately to take her with them.

Some of them made for the kitchen to raid the refrigerator and pantry for whatever they could carry, some of them went back to their rooms to get blankets and sheets, and some of them picked the lock to Logan's room to sneak off with some of his liquor and maybe some cigars.

They all met up by the lake –silently thanking Storm for inadvertently providing a cool but comfortable night – and that was when the real party started.

The blankets and sheets were spread out on the grass, drinks were being mixed, someone even had the foresight to bring out a stereo to play some _real_ music – AC/DC came blaring out the speakers to which Jubilee immediately dropped the bag of chips she had been holding and started dancing like there was no tomorrow. A few dozen candles were lit – courtesy of you-know-who – and, pretty soon, it seemed as if the entire school was outside, partying like rock stars.

Rogue was carrying a plastic cup of what Kitty was calling the 'everything' punch (called that because someone had poured all the alcohol with some fruit juice and soda into one giant punch bowl for some reason), looking for a place to sit. She spotted John sitting on one of the bedsheets, puffing away at a cigar.

"Fancy seeing you here, Mr Allerdyce," she said, taking the spot next to him. "You're looking very debonair with that suit and cigar…"

He smirked, breathing out another puff of smoke. "Ah, damn, and here I was trying to look all bad-ass…"

"Maybe you should get rid of the pink tie then," she said, setting down her cup and loosening his tie for him. She twirled the tie between her gloved fingers while it still hung around his neck. "Is this another sign that you're coming out of the closet?"

He arched a brow at her. "Excuse me?"

"No need to be shy about it… You and Jones make such a cute couple!" she giggled.

"Hey, just because I showed up with _him_ does not make me gay! I was planning to have my nice quiet movie night when he showed up, whining and complaining. Would not shut up… An entire viewing of _The Godfather_ down the drain because that kid didn't want to show up by himself to a dance that nobody wanted to be at in the first place…"

She smiled, trying to look empathetic but failing miserably. "It was nice of you to come with him. And look how much fun he's having now…"

They watched as Jones did some sort of cross between the electric slide and the hokey-pokey with Jubilee and Kitty trying to keep up with him.

Rogue turned away from them, her hand still holding onto one end of his tie. "Where'd you get this anyways? I didn't know you even owned any ties…"

John shrugged, putting out his cigar on the grass. "I didn't either. I found it hidden in my sock drawer for some reason… Probably got it from Bobby. He's always giving me pansy stuff like that for Christmas. Speaking of which, what is that moron doing?"

Bobby was dancing – sort of. He kept bumping into different people, one hand waving around like he was saying hello to nobody in particular and his legs…no amount of words could quite describe _those_ movements.

John snickered when Bobby accidentally slapped Warren in the face while doing his weird dance. "So what do you think? Drunk or just stupid?"

"Maybe a little bit of both…"

"Probably shouldn't drink too much of that punch then," John said, nodding toward Rogue's cup. "Don't want you to get stupid-drunk like him…"

"Why, John Allerdyce, are you looking after for my well-being?" she asked, her Southern accent becoming more pronounced.

He grinned. "Just don't want to be the one stuck holding your hair when you're throwing up…"

"Thanks for nothing…" She nudged him with her shoulder while he laughed.

"I'm just saying… You don't want to get that stuff in your hair or on that dress of yours…"

She had been feeling particularly adventurous, deciding to wear a black strapless gown. Well, maybe not _that_ adventurous since she also wore something to cover her bare shoulders and she didn't forget to wear her gloves. "You like it? Jubilee picked it out for me."

"She pick out that thing around your shoulders too?"

"It's called a pashmina."

"And I wanted to know that…why?" he asked sarcastically.

She was about to nudge him again when from the corner of her eye, she could see Bobby stumbling around near the shoreline of the lake. "How much has he been drinking?"

"Probably just one cup… He's such a lightweight…" They watched as Bobby stopped right in front of the lake, leaning forward a little bit as if he was about to fall in. John hurried over, catching Bobby by the arm. Rogue followed, looking at Bobby worriedly. "Whoa… Maybe we should sit down for a bit, huh?"

"Wha…what are you talking about?" Bobby slurred, his drink spilling out of the cup he was holding. "I'm fine!" Bobby burped loudly then he started to laugh hysterically, as if the sound of his own burp was the funniest thing in the world.

"O-kay, then… Let's just come over here and not stand so close to the water." John started steering him away from the shoreline but then Bobby pulled back suddenly, losing his balance and his cup. Both John and Rogue grabbed him before he would have fallen backwards into the water.

"Man, I feel great! Why didn't I start drinking sooner? Alcohol is awesome!" Bobby yelled. "I'M KING OF THE WOOOORRRLLLLDDDD!!"

He stumbled away from his two friends. And as soon as he was out of their reach, Bobby fell face forward into the grass, promptly passing out. If Bobby had been a tree, someone would have called out 'timber!' right before he fell.

"Bobby!" Rogue gasped.

She stood next to John as he knelt down to check on Bobby. "He's fine, but we should probably get him back to his room. And…I think he ate some of the grass…"

"What happened?" Peter came running over with Jubilee and Kitty not far behind.

"Idiot can't handle his alcohol. Can you help me get him back to his room?" John asked. Peter nodded and roughly grasped Bobby up by his shirt. Peter took one of Bobby's arms and slung it around his neck as John did the same.

"Ugh…gross… Did he drink the punch or is he wearing it?" Jubilee said, holding her nose. "You better be careful none of the teachers catch you guys."

"I'll go with you and keep a look-out," Rogue volunteered. "It's a good thing that Logan took off this weekend…"

"Let's go then…" John said, trying to keep pace with Peter's long strides.

* * *

Peter and John let Bobby land on the bed haphazardly, making the unconscious boy bounce on the springs a few times.

"Remind me never to let this moron drink again…" John said disgustedly. He wiped his hands on Bobby's bedsheets like he was trying to get imaginary filth off of them.

"I doubt he'll be feeling like the king of the world in the morning," Peter chuckled. Bobby began snoring loudly, mouth hanging wide open.

"Thanks, Peter," Rogue said to the departing boy who waved in response. She turned back to see John getting Bobby's jacket off and loosening a couple of buttons on Bobby's shirt. "Should I take his shoes off too?"

"Nah…I think he'll be fine. And besides, if he smells this bad with his shoes on, I don't even want to think what he'll smell like with them off." John grinned when Bobby started mumbling in his sleep about how he loved being king. "We'll just leave his highness to his beauty rest now."

Rogue and John walked out of the room, closing the door behind them.

"So you want to go back…ugh, God! What the hell is this?" John's hand had brushed against the side of his jacket and came up with some kind of sticky substance. "If Drake puked on me, I'm going to beat the crap out of him."

Rogue cringed away but the smell was unmistakable. "I think it's just the punch… Bobby probably spilled some on you by accident. Come on, I think I have some of those cleaning wipes in my room."

They walked toward her room, John grumbling the entire way.

Rogue went into her bathroom to look for the wipes while John took off his jacket. "Hand me your jacket…"

"You mind if I washed my hands here?" John asked, standing in front of the faucet while she dabbed at the stain.

"I don't know if you want to smell like flowers though…"

"What do you mean…" He sniffed at his hands. "Why do you have rose scented soap?"

She rolled her eyes. "We can't all be naturally pleasant-smelling like you, John." Rogue held up his jacket, a satisfied look on her face. "There! Good as new!"

"You're a regular MacGyver…" he grinned, putting his jacket back on.

She smoothed a hand over his chest, smiling back.

She'd like to blame the alcohol for what happened next – she _did_ have a couple of sips. She was feeling buzzed and she didn't know what she was doing. She wanted to think that she was only going to give him a quick peck on his cheek, her way of saying thanks for being so uncharacteristically nice to everyone that night.

But she knew. She knew that somewhere in the deep dark recesses of her mind, she just really wanted to kiss him.

And once her lips touched his, it was like she couldn't get enough.

Her fingers gripped tightly around his lapels, pulling him closer. She didn't care that her pashmina was falling off her shoulders, exposing her skin. All she wanted to do was to keep kissing him and never let him go.

Their mouths melded together, slanting over each other again and again. She felt his tongue skimming against her lower lip and imagined this was what fire would taste like – hot and smoky with a touch of saltiness. It was so much better than bland and boring ice…

She felt one of his hands on her hip, his fingers bunching the silk fabric of her dress. His other hand stroking her cheek, she could still smell the roses from her soap on it. Her own hands were busy, moving away from his jacket and twining themselves in his hair, loving the feel of his hair between her fingers.

She couldn't remember a time when she had been kissed this thoroughly…

"Rogue! Where are you, girl?"

They broke away quickly when they heard Jubilee's voice carry through the hallway. Rogue frantically re-adjusted her pashmina around her shoulders while John combed back his disheveled hair with his fingers. She gasped when she saw her reflection in the mirror. She looked like a girl who had just made-out with her ex-boyfriend's best friend. Her lips were swollen and her cheeks flushed red.

He shut the bathroom door closed when he saw the panic in her eyes as Jubilee's voice got closer and closer.

"Rogue? Are you in there?"

"Answer her," he whispered.

"Yea…yeah! I'm in the bathroom!" Rogue called out shakily. "Did you need something?"

"Do you still have my Justin Timberlake CD? I can't find it anywhere!"

"Um…I think Kitty has it in her room, Jubes!"

"Okay, thanks!"

They could hear Jubilee's footsteps fade away. Rogue glanced over at John but he wouldn't make eye contact with her.

"Sorry…" he muttered, walking out in a rush.

"John…" Rogue tried to stop him but he was already gone.

She bit her lip, not knowing what to do. It was then she noticed his pink-striped tie tangled around the heels of her shoes.

* * *

She was lying in bed, her nightgown riding up her legs. She wrapped and unwrapped his tie around her wrist.

_I kissed him__… In my bathroom_

_God, what was I thinking?_

She'll never be able to go into that room again without thinking about their little make-out session.

But then she licked her lips and she could still taste him there.

She sat up, deciding finally that she needed to talk to him. Her bedside clock, though, blinked 4:23 am.

_I'll talk to him tomorrow… _

_I'll talk to him rationally and sensibly… _

_And when I'm not so horny for his bod…_

She laid back down against her pillows, still playing with his tie, when she realized it.

She kissed him. And nothing happened. No draining, no sudden new powers, no stolen memories…nothing…


	4. The One with the Truck

The bell above the door rang lightly as Rogue entered the diner. Her eyes scanned all the faces there – old bearded guy at the counter drinking coffee, young boy hiding his peas under his mashed potatoes when his mother was distracted, girl sitting in the back corner biting into a burger while reading a magazine…

_Where the hell was he?_

She had been searching for John ever since she had gotten up that morning. She had looked everywhere in the mansion, even climbing all the stairs to the rooftop, and asked everyone if they had seen him, but no such luck. The diner was literally the last place she looked, not really sure if he had come here since all the cars were still parked in the garage.

"Did you need something, hon?" Rogue's attention turned to the person who had walked up to her. It was the waitress who had served them the last time they had been here together. "Oh, it's you! John's girlfriend, right?"

"Um…yeah…" Rogue said, smiling nervously. "Have you seen him?"

"You just missed him, actually."

"He was here?" Rogue wanted slap her forehead in frustration.

"Sure." The waitress nodded toward one of the booths near the windows, a half-empty coffee cup and an untouched slice of apple pie still on the table. "First time I've seen him not finish his pie. Is something wrong? He seemed a little broody today."

Rogue just shook her head, not really knowing what else to say to this woman who wasn't exactly a stranger but not really a close friend either. "How long ago did he leave?"

"About ten minutes ago…"

Rogue looked outside, trying to figure out which way he might have gone.

"Are you sure everything's okay?"

"I…I just need to talk to him."

The waitress looked at her, both of them silent for a moment. "I didn't see him drive up. He probably took the bus here… Hey, Danny, where's the nearest bus stop?"

The old guy at the counter put down his cup, scratching at his beard. "There's one by Baker Street."

"That's about two blocks from here." The waitress pointed down the road. "He might still be there."

"Thank you!" Rogue ran out, the bell over the door ringing furiously.

* * *

Rogue stopped the car when she spotted the bus stop at the street corner. She got out and walked the remaining distance – the sounds of a lighter opening and closing reaching her ears as she got closer.

She sat down on the bench, between the two people there waiting for the bus. She waited for him to say something but he seemed intent on concentrating on his lighter.

"John?"

He didn't reply, giving no indication that he even heard her.

"John?" she tried again.

"Hey, son, the lady is talking to you," the other man on the bench called out, giving John a nudge with the end of his walking cane. "You should stop fiddling with that damn lighter and answer her."

John was startled out of his thoughts, finally noticing that there was not just one but two people next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you. I…I wanted to talk to you about…last night…"

He was quiet, looking down at his shoes like they were the most fascinating things in the world.

"I…I drove here…" she finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "You don't have to wait for the bus…"

He still had nothing to say.

"It's just over there…if you want to…" She trailed off when he continued to stare at his shoes. She got up and walked away, hoping against hope that he would follow soon.

She sat in the driver's seat, waiting.

_I'll wait for ten minutes…ten minutes…and if he doesn't come… I guess I'll have my answer…_

She held her breath when she saw the bus rolling by, stopping at the corner. It picked somebody up then drove away again.

She sighed heavily, her hand on the key to start the engine when the passenger-side door creaked open. She turned slightly to see John get in, adjusting his jacket as he tried to find a comfortable spot in the rickety old seat.

"Fucking-ay, Rogue, out of all the cars you could have taken, you choose this hunk of junk?"

Her eyes widened in surprise, forgetting for a moment why they were there and looked around the interior of the car. Or rather the interior of the truck that looked like it was being held together with duct tape and spit. She had taken Logan's truck without realizing it. "It's Logan's. He taught me how to drive in it."

"What's that smell?"

"He leaves beef jerky in the glove compartment…" she shrugged, as if everyone left dried-up meat products in there.

"Cozy…" His eyes roamed around the cabin, noting that everything just screamed Logan's name, right down to the empty beer bottles scattered on the floor and the semi-pornographic air freshener hung around the rear-view mirror. "Are we going or what?"

She turned away from the steering wheel, shifting in her seat to look at him straight on. "We're going to talk about what happened first."

"Look, Rogue, I think we should just forget about that."

"Why?"

He looked over at her and she would have laughed at his incredulous expression if the tension between them wasn't so thick. "What do you mean 'why'? You're Bobby's girlfriend."

The silence was almost deafening. Rogue could only stare down at her hands in her lap. "Not anymore…" she murmured.

"What?"

"I'm not with Bobby anymore."

"Wait a minute, why would he say…"

He stopped talking the instant she started taking off one of her gloves. John thought to himself that he should look away – it was almost like he was watching a strip show as she slowly removed that silk glove to reveal the pale skin of her hand. She looked too exposed, too naked when the glove finally slid off.

She reached for him and he doesn't flinch away.

She ran light touches over the top of his hand. Her confidence grew when he started to return her touches. She held his hand, fingers entwined, palms nestled against each other.

"How are you doing this?" he whispered, afraid to break the moment but wanting to know.

"I don't know… I think…I…"

"What?"

"I think it's you."

"I don't understand…"

Rogue struggled to find the words to explain. "You've never shied from me. And I always felt…I don't know how to put it…safe with you. I mean, even with Logan, in the back of my mind, I'll always remember that night…you know, when he had his nightmare…" She cleared her throat nervously, not wanting to elaborate further on that painful incident. "But with you…I don't have any bad memories. I always feel like my skin isn't an issue with you. You treat me like I'm…like everybody else. Sometimes I even forget I have it when I'm with you." She blushed, her hair falling to cover part of her face. Her gaze shyly sought his. "Am I making any sense or am I just blabbing like an idiot?"

He grinned, tightening his hold on her hand. "I think I get it."

"Good…because I don't think I could explain it any further…" With her free hand, she tucked her hair back into place behind her ear. "And I think you should kiss me now…"

He pulled her toward him, giving her a small peck on the corner of her lips. He couldn't stop the small chuckle that escaped when he saw the irritated look on her face.

"What the hell was that?"

"I can't… Not here anyways…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…it's _his_ truck… I don't know, I just get the feeling he'll know…"

She giggled. "John Allerdyce afraid? I didn't think it was possible…"

Now it was his turn to look irritated. "Can we just go someplace else? Then I'll give you a proper kiss, okay?"

* * *

When they had returned to the mansion, Logan almost fainted with relief to see his truck. As much as he bitched and moaned about how old and run-down his truck was, he would never get rid of it. They've been through so much already, too much history between them.

And he would never let anyone else drive it. With Rogue, he made an exception. But only a very small, very minute exception – you'd need a magnifying glass to see it.

John and Rogue slowly backed out of the garage to give Logan some privacy as he quietly whispered sweet-nothings to his truck, laying his cheek against its hood like he had just been reunited with a long-lost love.

They walked outside and sat under the maple tree by the mansion's front gates, trying to decide where this relationship was going. They agreed to go slow…wait for the right moment… And to keep it a secret for now. They still hadn't figured out how to break the news to everybody and, more importantly, to Bobby.

It was dark when they finally went back inside. The mansion was quiet as most people had gone out to the newly built movie theater that opened a few days ago.

"So…um…what do you want to do?" he asked, as they munched on some leftovers in the kitchen.

"I still have to finish my math homework."

"Rogue, it's Saturday night."

She rolled her eyes. "I still have to finish it."

"Fine… I guess I could read a book or something while you're figuring out your equations…"

* * *

He looked strangely right lying there on her bed among her frilly pillows and stuffed dolls. She felt a pang of envy against her Sunshine Care Bear doll that rested headfirst against his side.

Her eyes followed his hand as it slipped under his shirt to scratch at an itch on his stomach. A flood of emotions went through her when she saw a peek of his bare flesh, especially the small tuft of hair that trailed down…

Even in her own private thoughts, she couldn't finish that sentence.

_Fuck going slow__… Fuck __waiting… _

She put down her pencil, pushing away the homework that she wasn't really concentrating on anyways. She got up from her desk chair, swinging her legs onto the bed and straddling him around his hips.

He sat up in surprise when she snatched away the book he had been reading, throwing it across the room along with her Care Bear doll.

"What are you doing?" Confusion marred his brow but quickly left his face when she started slowly taking off both of her gloves. It was really getting a little kinky the way she slid those off, he thought.

"I never got my kiss…" she murmured, her fingers tangling themselves in his brown locks. Feeling his hair against her gloved hands last night had been glorious but against her bare hands…it was overwhelming.

She leaned forward, her lips seeking his. She moaned softly as their kiss deepened, his hands roaming under her skirt. Pressing herself further into him, her arms tightened around his neck as her breasts flattened against his chest.

It was a matter of minutes before the springs of her bed started to squeak softly as they began grinding and rubbing against each other.

Her breath hitched as his lips left hers, leaving little wet kisses against her chin. Her head fell back as he sucked and bruised the tender flesh of her neck.

When her head cleared slightly out of her lust-filled haze, she gasped loudly. She realized that her blouse was halfway undone, revealing the black lacey fabric that cupped her breasts.

"How did you…" she asked, looking at him then at her exposed skin then back at him.

He grinned, nimbly unbuttoning the rest of her blouse. "I've got the magic touch, baby."

"I bet you do," she laughed, diving in to capture his lips again.


	5. The One with the Wooden Box

Rogue stirred quietly as she felt the bed dip and rise. She watched with hooded eyes as John slowly got to his feet, rubbing a hand over his face, and searched for his clothes that were scattered across the room.

Last night had been…wild. There was no other word to describe it.

That first time, he had been tender, incredibly patient, drawing out every last sensation until she couldn't take it anymore. It had been like that the next few times they had been together.

But last night…last night had been _hot_ – pun absolutely intended.

And she definitely liked it. He had been rough and untamed and, God, the things he did to her…the things she let him do… She was pretty sure she would be washing his handprints off of her body for the next two weeks. Not that she really minded or anything…

She tingled remembering how he growled low and husky into her ear, "I'm gonna fuck you senseless, little girl."

Catching herself before she could blurt out, "Yes, please."

Instead, she tightened her thighs around his hips, rubbing herself against him slowly. She had to bite down hard on her lower lip, hoping that there wasn't too much eagerness and anticipation shining through her eyes.

He found his boxers – she had to bury her face into the mattress to stifle her giggles when she realized they had been thrown on her bookshelf, partially covering some of her framed pictures. He started pulling them on as the predawn light peeking through her lace curtains danced across his back.

She loved the feeling of his weight on top of her and the sensation of his back muscles under her hands as he was making love to her. The feel of his sweat-soaked shoulders as they strained to bring her to the peaks of satisfaction, the slight quiver in his spine when he was about to find his own release, the bumps and turns of his ribs she traced delicately while they both tried to catch their breaths.

That same back was now bent forward, searching for his tattered t-shirt under her desk. He had his shirt in his hand when she tiptoed towards him, startling him with a hand on his lower back. He dropped the shirt, turning toward her to see a mischievous grin curving her slightly swollen lips.

"We still have some time," she whispered, slipping her hand from his back and into the waistband of his boxers to give him a tender stroke. And then another stroke…

His breath caught, half in mind let her continue but his eye caught the red digital numbers of her clock and he stilled any further movement. "It's already six. I should have left an hour ago. Go back to bed."

"We still have time," she insisted.

"Rogue…" He groaned when she wrapped a leg around his hip and he could feel her warm and wet and just…fan-fucking-tastic…

The girl certainly cottoned on pretty quick to what he liked…

They fell back into her bed, his tongue slipping past her lips when she tugged his head down toward hers. He lifted himself from the bed for a moment, fumbling off his boxers and throwing them haphazardly onto the floor. She reached over to the nightstand, her fingers slipping into the wooden box – the same one that _used_ to sit on John's desk just a few weeks ago – to pull out a condom.

* * *

Rogue sat in study hall, staring out the open window. The weather was getting warmer, the birds were chirping merrily, even the grass seemed to be greener than she could ever remember. The days just seemed to be brighter, happier, she thought.

She was anticipating another sleepless night. She had bought a special 'outfit' – so to speak, considering it only consisted of a brassiere, lace panties, and thigh-high stockings – and couldn't wait to show it off to the one person she knew would completely appreciate it.

And he also promised they'd try something new tonight.

The giggle that was threatening to bubble up her throat died quickly when she finally noticed Logan standing next to her desk, looking at her strangely. She swiftly ducked her head, burying her nose into her history book.

Logan could have sworn he smelled…

No, no, it couldn't be… This was Rogue! Marie! His kid! She was the epitome of innocence! Made out of sugar and sunshine and rainbows and unicorns and cookies and whatever other girly things he could think of… She couldn't possibly be thinking…

But it did seem like she was…in heat…

_Oh, Jesus Christ…she's only sixteen!_

But, really, he was in no position to judge anyone. He who lost count a long time ago how many women shared his bed – not to mention the back of his truck, the occasional bathroom stall, a couple of tables, that one time in the movie theater, oh, and that other time in that library against the shelves that held books on Freud and Jung (talk about your irony).

He had to be sure she was even thinking those thoughts. Or if she had acted on those thoughts.

He had to be sure… So he'd have a reason to warn whoever it was (_Bobby? Ew!_) to keep it in his pants… Or pound the crap out of the guy (_Bobby? Yay!_)…

Jubilee. Rogue would confide in her…right?

* * *

"What?!"

Logan sighed, repeating his question. "Do you know if Rogue is having sex? You're her best friend, shouldn't you know about these things?"

He watched as her face crumple into a fit of laughter. "Oh my God… You are the bee's knees, Wolvie…"

"Do you know something or not?" _Exasperation, thy name is Jubilation Lee._

"Well, first of all, us girls? We don't go strutting around grabbing our crotches and talking about our latest bang-fest like guys, m'kay? Secondly, I can't believe you actually used the word 'sex' instead of some corny euphemism like Mr Summers did when he had to teach the sex ed class last semester. Did you know he actually used the phrase 'knocking boots'? I didn't know people still used that. What a tool, huh?"

"Jubilee!"

"All right, all right! Geez, don't get your panties in a twist… I'm almost positively sure that Rogue is NOT having sex. I mean, let's be realistic here, she'd probably kill the guy first before they actually got down to business, right? Well, I guess if they were _real_ creative, they could still do it. But one slip and BOOM! he's dead as a doornail… But what a way to go, huh? I'd like to die having sex…or face first in a giant bowl of ice cream…"

"I'll keep that in mind…" She just gave him a big toothy grin and he had to roll his eyes at her. "So you're sure she's not doing anything, right? With that boyfriend of hers?"

"Logan, I know for a fact that Bobby's too much of a Mr Nice Guy to pull anything freaky-deaky, okay? He's not that imaginative. Like he wouldn't 'accidentally' spill a soda on someone's shirt, forcing them to take it off to show their goods to the world…"

"Uh…right…" Then Logan remembered something that happened to him just a few nights ago. "Hey, wait a minute, you spilled soda on me…"

"Gotta go!" Jubilee zoomed out of sight.

* * *

Logan took a deep breath then raised his knuckles to knock on Rogue's door. He tapped his foot impatiently when she didn't answer immediately.

"Rogue? You in there?" He knocked again and realized that she wasn't in her bedroom.

_I'm not snooping… I'm not snooping… I'm not snooping…_

He shut the door behind him and took a look around her room.

It looked like a typical teenage girl's room.

Stuffed dolls? Check.

Magazine cutouts of various celebrities plastered on the wall? Check.

Shiny and colorful jewelry scattered over the dresser? Check.

Pink and purple and baby blue lotion bottles on the vanity? Check.

His eyes then landed on the wooden box on the nightstand. He doesn't remember seeing that before.

He stood over the nightstand, his hand hovering over the lid of the box. To open it would mean an invasion of her privacy. Could he really do that to her?

_Maybe there__'s nothing in there, maybe just some makeup or knick-knacks or whatever…_

He really was going leave her room then.

Really.

He didn't mean for his leg to bump against the nightstand, knocking over the box and spilling its contents all over his feet.

_Oh fucking hell… It's a fucking smorgasbord…of fucking… _

_Ah, shit, how the hell did she get a prescription for birth control pills? _

_Wait a minute, they make chocolate-flavored condoms? And tropical too? Huh…you learn something new every day…_

He snapped out of it – what the hell was he thinking? She wasn't keeping these things in her room for show and tell...

Well, not _that_ kind of show and tell but the _other _kind of show and tell…the naughtier version…

He heard footsteps outside as kids ran up and down the hallway to make it to the dining hall in time for dinner – it was pizza night and no one wanted to miss that. He quickly scooped up everything and put them back inside, placing the box back on top of the nightstand again.

He took a deep breath, knowing it was time to have that dreaded 'talk' with Rogue.

* * *

"You're earl…y" Her eyes widened in shock as she realized who exactly was knocking on her door. "Logan! Uh…just a second… I need to get dressed…"

The door slammed back in his face.

Wait, get dressed? Why was she undressed? It was only seven. She couldn't be getting ready for bed this early in the evening, could she? And who was she expecting?

She opened the door again, wearing a t-shirt and a baggy pair of sweatpants.

He walked inside, noting immediately that the box on her nightstand was still there.

She shifted from one foot to the other nervously. "Did you need something, Logan?"

"Well…I…uh… Well, I was wondering if you had some…uh…questions…" Wow, this wasn't going to be awkward. Nope, not at all.

"Questions? About what?"

Logan loudly cleared his throat. "Well…um…you're getting older now and I…uh…was thinking that maybe you…uh…had questions about…well, you know…"

_Bravo, Logan, you're a real linguist, aren't you? A master of the English language!_

_Shut up, brain! Or I'll stab you with a Q-tip!_

He cleared his throat again. "About…uh…you know…knocking boots…"

She still looked confused. "Knocking boots? Wha… Oh my God!" she yelped, clapping her hands on her mouth as realization dawned on her, face turning bright red. "NO! I mean, no, I don't have any questions."

That was partially true. She really didn't have any questions for him…since she already had most of her answers thanks to John.

"Look, Rogue, this isn't any more comfortable for me either. I just want to make sure you aren't…uh…doing anything you didn't want to. Bobby's not trying to pressure you or anything, right?"

"Oh God, no!"

That was true too. Then again, she couldn't remember the last time she had talked with Bobby. Was it that night of the dance?

"Well…okay… You know that you can come to me if you have any questions, right? Any questions at all."

"I know, Logan."

"Because if you needed to know anything about sex, I'm the one to ask…"

She didn't mean to laugh but couldn't stop herself. Logan blushed when he realized what he had just said.

"I didn't mean I'm _the_ expert or anything… I just don't want you to ask someone like Jubilee and her telling you that you won't get pregnant if you only do it once or if you do it in a certain position or whatever…"

He was interrupted when someone opened the door without knocking. John looked like the proverbial deer in headlights as he stared at Logan, his hand still gripping the doorknob like it was his last lifeline.

"John! Oh hey! Here's that book you wanted to borrow!" Rogue hurried over, grabbing the first book off of her shelf.

He snapped back to reality and took the book she had shoved into him. "Um…right… I needed to get _Confessions of a Shopaholic _from you… Very important reading…"

"Right! Well…okay then! I'll see you later!"

John stumbled out of the room, clutching the book to his chest.

Logan didn't know what to make of that entire scene. But then his attention was distracted when he saw Rogue's stocking covered toes peeking from under the hem of her pants.

* * *

Rogue quietly slipped into his room, making sure she locked the door. She turned to find him awake and watching her as she noiselessly walked towards his bed.

"Why didn't you come back?" she whispered.

"I walked past your room five times and he was still there! What the hell was I supposed to do? Ask for another book?" he whispered back harshly.

"He made me teach him how to use his email and it took me two hours just to explain why he needed a password!"

He muttered angrily under his breath as she stood over him, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Well? Should I go or should I stay so I can show you something?"

"Show me something?" He scooted back into a sitting position against his pillows.

She grinned when she saw the keen interest on his face and knew she made the right decision to wear just a robe over her outfit. Sure, her heart pounded a mile a minute as she had made her way to his room, hoping to God that she didn't run into anybody (i.e. Logan) that late at night, but it was all worth it to see him like this.

Slowly, she loosened the knot from the belt of her robe, shrugging down a sleeve slightly over her shoulder to reveal the red strap of her bra. A shapely stocking-clad leg slowly slid out from the front of the robe and it was all John could do from drooling at the sight of black lace at the tops of her thighs.

"Do you want to see more?"

He licked his lips, nodding his head.

"Then come over here and have a closer view…"

He didn't need to be told twice as he scrambled out of his sheets…


	6. The One with the Apple Pie Pt 1

When she opened her eyes, all she saw was a blurred image of her room. She had to blink a couple of times before her vision came into focus.

She was lying on her stomach, her head resting on his chest that rose and fell with every breath, her hand on his hip. Grinning and remembering what they had done until the wee hours of the night, she placed a quick kiss on the side of his neck and looked to see what time it was.

_5:14…better wake him…_

"John… John…" She shook him a little by the shoulder but all he did was grunt and shift a little against the bedsheets. His eyes were still firmly closed as she bit her lip, knowing exactly what would get him to wake up. She knew she shouldn't… She leaned in, her lips close to his ear and whispered, "John… Logan's outside my door, sharpening his claws and getting ready to rip you to shreds if you don't get up right now…"

His eyes snapped open and he tumbled out of the bed, the sheets getting tangled around his body. "Holy fucking shit!"

She peeked over the edge of the bed and couldn't stop the laughter that came bursting out. He was lying flat on his back, the sheets still tangled around him like he was going to a half-baked toga party.

"You're going to pay for that," he growled.

She couldn't even answer him, she was laughing so hard.

"Rogue! Shit! Somebody's gonna hear you! And then Logan's really going to rip me to shreds…"

That didn't stop her laughter but she did manage to stifle it by burying her face into her pillows. She let out a little yelp of surprise when he flipped her onto her back, molding her body against his own. She twined her arms around his neck, her laughter gradually dying down.

"Aren't you suppose to be a good girl? That wasn't very nice."

"I'm sorry," she said in her meekest tone of voice, kissing his cheek. "It's after five and you needed to wake up…" She nibbled on his ear lobe, wrapping a leg around his waist. "And you know how much I like our morning fucks…"

He lifted his head, smirking. "Morning fucks? Shouldn't a good girl like you be saying something like 'making love'?"

"You've thoroughly corrupted me, didn't you know? I can't be the good girl anymore, not when you make me feel so _dirty_." She sighed contentedly as she felt his fingers dance up her thigh. "Mmm…I don't mind though because you're just so _good_ at it…"

* * *

"All right, here you go… Scrambled eggs with bacon and toast, one pancake breakfast with sausage… You want more coffee, hon?"

"Nah…I'm good. Thanks." John smiled at the waitress who nodded in response, walking away to take care of another customer.

It had become a ritual for them – eating breakfast together Sunday morning. That and sharing a plate of chili cheese fries whenever Dr Grey got in the mood to make her infamous meatless meatloaf.

It was their time to be just a normal couple, not having to hide or worry about someone walking in on them.

He picked up his fork, realizing then that she had already swiped a bacon strip off of his plate. "What the…?"

"You snooze, you lose," she said smugly, licking the bacon grease from her fingers.

"You seriously need to stop hanging around with Jubilee so much… You're starting to talk just like her."

Her response was to just grin at him then gleefully pour the entire jug of maple syrup all over her pancakes and sausage.

He made a face as he watched her cut into her sausage, making sure it was thoroughly soaked in syrup. "That is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen…"

"How can you hate something you never even tried?" she mumbled out, her mouth full from a forkful of sausage layered with pancake. "It's sooooo good."

"I'll take your word for it." He concentrated on his own breakfast, mentally still shuddering from what he had just seen. He was surprised she didn't drop down in convulsions from sugar shock yet.

"So what are your plans for this fine day, Mr Allerdyce?"

"Well, Miss D'Ancanto, I'm going to finish my breakfast then I have a session of major ass kicking at the basketball court with the guys."

She grinned at him. "So…a bunch of guys, sweating, panting, grabbing at each other, rubbing bodies against each other…"

He rolled his eyes, breaking off a piece of toast and popping it into his mouth. "Jesus Christ, Rogue, do you have to turn everything into an episode of _Oz_?"

"Pretty much." She paused for a moment, finishing the last of her sausage. "You need a cheerleader for this little ass-kicking session?"

"You have an outfit and pompoms?"

"I even have a routine."

He chuckled, but before he could make his smart-aleck remark, the waitress returned to their table carrying a coffee pot and a slice of apple pie.

"Fresh out of the oven – Sandy wanted you to have a slice before you left. She knows how much you like her apple pie." The waitress slid the plate toward John with a wink. She refilled his coffee cup before she left the table again.

"Oh man…" He rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

Rogue giggled – she knew that expression but the only times she had seen it was in bed. "Aren't you going to finish your eggs first?"

"Are you kidding? You don't let a fresh slice of apple pie just sit on the table… The eggs can wait." He stole a fork from the empty table next to them and started digging into the pie.

* * *

As they sat on the bus, she couldn't help but feel absolutely agitated.

_What is wrong with me? He was only eating pie…_

No matter what she tried to tell herself, she couldn't stop herself from rubbing her thighs together or wringing her hands. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt him put an arm around her shoulders.

"You okay?"

She could feel her entire face flush. "Um…yeah, I'm fine."

_God, I can't even look at him without thinking about it… And the noises he was making… And that thing he kept doing with his tongue…the way he kept licking at his fork__… He looks exactly like that when he__s_

"Rogue!"

"Huh?" Her brain seemed to have completely shut down – bye-bye speech function, sayonara coordination, arrivederci attention span, auf wiedersehen any of kind of control…

"It's our stop. Come on…"

"Oh." She finally realized the bus had stopped and everyone's eyes were on her, including the bus driver's. John had a hand held out to her and she took it mindlessly, following him down the steps off the bus.

While they walked the short path from the bus stop to the front gates of the mansion, she kept glancing at him from the corner of her eye. He was licking his lips, smacking them in satisfaction.

"Damn good pie… You should have had some, Rogue. Rogue?"

She snapped out of her reverie and realized he caught her staring like an idiot. "What?"

"You sure you're all right?"

"Um…yeah… I just need to…concentrate…"

He looked at her strangely. "Concentrate on what?"

"Just…" She tried to answer him, she really did. But how could he possibly think she could form words when he kept darting that damn tongue of his, looking like he was trying to find some kind of hidden last morsel of that damn pie?

She pushed him against the ivy-covered brick wall behind him and literally…ravaged him.

_Oh God, he tastes like apples and cinnamon and just…him…_

It didn't register with her that they were standing just outside of the mansion's gates, making out with the sign saying 'Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters' digging into his back.

"Hey, Jones! You seen John anywhere?" someone called out from the other side of the wall.

Rogue and John broke apart quickly, although Rogue was still clinging to the front of his shirt with both hands.

"I haven't seen him all morning!" Jones replied.

"I gotta go…" John whispered, gently prying her fingers from him.

"John…I…I…"_ What the hell do I say to him? Can't we have a quickie to hold me over until later? __I'm so horny from watching you eat pie?_

"Have you found him?" a third person called out from behind the wall.

"I'll go in first, okay? Then wait five minutes and come in…" John shook her by the shoulder. "Rogue? Did you hear me?"

"Um…yeah…" She gave herself a mental shake. "Five minutes…"

He gave her a quick peck on her cheek and then calmly walked through the gates of the school. "Looking for me? I'm touched…"

"There you are! Where the hell have you been? You're not even dressed yet! Come on! Everybody's waiting!"

Rogue took a few deep breaths, her hands on her knees. It was all a fluke. She did not just get hot because of apple pie. That just did not happen. She was not that kind of girl. She wasn't some kind of apple pie nymphomaniac.

_Apple pie. Yeah, right…_

* * *

Rogue paced around the rec room, biting at her fingernails and glancing out the French doors to where the boys were playing basketball.

Jubilee wondered why her friend was so…agitated.

"Rogue! Would you please stop pacing? You're making me dizzy…" Kitty complained from where she was sitting on the couch.

Rogue looked at her for a moment, like she was seeing Kitty for the first time.

Jubilee got up from the couch to see what got Rogue so worked up. "Just as I suspected! Sweaty hot boys have gotten under your skin!"

Rogue turned to her, a comical surprised expression on her face. Jubilee burst out laughing.

"Sweaty hot boys? I wanna see! I wanna see!" Kitty jumped up and came up beside them to join in on the ogling. "Holy crap…is that Peter?"

"Well, it ain't the Professor, genius," Jubilee said sarcastically. "You know, out of all the guys at this school, why is it always Bobby who's taking off his shirt? I mean, no offense to your boyfriend, Rogue, but seriously…if you're going to take off your shirt you should a) have something to show off and b) be not so pasty white looking. Ugh…didn't he ever think to use one of those self-tanning lotions?"

Rogue was about to tell Jubilee not to call Bobby her boyfriend but was distracted by the sight of John pulling up the front of his shirt and wiping the sweat off of his face with the ends of it. They all got a peek of his abs. And that little trail of hair that disappeared down his gym shorts.

"Hoo-hee…hot damn…" Jubilee whistled appreciatively. "Didn't know John had_ that_ under his shirt… Now there's a boy who should be taking off his shirt more often… Hot damn… Remind me to 'accidentally' spill some soda on him later…"

"That is one fine piece of male meat there… _Rwar_…" Rogue and Jubilee stared at Kitty incredulously, wondering where in the hell did young and innocent Kitty went off to? And also where in the hell did she learn how to roll her tongue like that? Kitty glanced at them and said, defensively, "What?!"

Jubilee laughed. "My protégé! I have taught you well!" Jubilee's attention went back to the basketball court. "You know, if only Logan was playing with them…and Bobby had his shirt on…my fantasy would be complete…" She turned to Rogue who hadn't said a word as of yet and nudged her gently with a shoulder. "So? Was I right? Are you going boy-crazy right now? Like literally?"

"What?" Rogue's eyes were permanently glued to see if John would lift his shirt again. She wondered briefly if this was how old lecherous perverts felt whenever they saw miniskirts on girls.

"Never mind," Jubilee laughed. She tugged Rogue toward the couch. "Okay, come on, enough ogling… Let's watch a movie, huh? Something with more man flesh? _Gladiator_ or _300_? We can watch Roman hot damn-ness or Greek…no, excuse me, Spartan hot damn-ness…"

"Let's watch _300_ – it has more nekkidness in it," Kitty exclaimed.

Rogue could only keep biting at her fingers. She doubted seeing half-naked men running around, carrying big swords and even bigger javelins was going to solve her agitation.

As Jubilee was putting in the disc into the DVD player, Kitty turned on the television and a commercial flashed onscreen. Rogue's worse nightmare came true…

"_Come in today for a delicious slice of heaven…in chocolate, cherry, banana, and, of course, everyone's favorite, apple… Only at Bakers Square!"_

Rogue stood up suddenly, startling both Jubilee and Kitty. "I have to go…"

Jubilee and Kitty could only watch as Rogue raced out of the room.

* * *

John was about to turn the knob when the door flew open and a hand reached out to grab him by the shirt, pulling him inside quickly.

"What the fuck…?" He was dazed from being thrown onto the floor of his room, someone straddling his midsection. He looked up and surprised wouldn't begin to describe how he felt when he saw that it was a half-undressed Rogue who was now sitting on top of him. "Uh…hey, what's going on?"

"Shut up…" She crushed her mouth against his.

_He still tastes like apples and cinnamon…_

* * *

He fell back onto the floor, panting heavily. She was still sprawled out on top of him, her breath coming out just as erratically. Their arms and legs tangled together, clothes strewn around the room, their bodies covered in sweat…

"What was that for?" he asked when he could finally formulate words.

She turned her head slightly, placing a kiss on his bare chest. "I just really really missed you."

* * *

A/N: For those of you who aren't familiar with Bakers Square, it's a restaurant that's famous for its pies. Like seriously, seriously famous for its pies. Seriously.


	7. The One with the Fight

John breathed a sigh of relief as he finally made it back to his room. He had cut it close – he heard Logan stomping down the stairs just as he was about to round a corner. He was sure Logan would have given him the third degree (and then some). It just wouldn't have been pretty, especially when Logan didn't have a cup of coffee first.

He was about to get into the shower when he heard someone knock. Thinking it was Rogue for some reason, he had a big stupid grin on his face when he opened his door but that rapidly disappeared when he saw who it really was. "Bobby? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Sorry… I didn't know I needed an invitation."

John lamely tried to cover up his surprise. "Uh…no, I mean, it's like seven in the morning. I wasn't expecting anybody, you know?"

"Listen, can I come in for a sec?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." John stepped aside to let Bobby in. John hoped to God he didn't smell too much like…well…sex.

_Sex with Rogue. _

_Jesus… S__top that._

"So… What's up?"

Bobby walked over to the bed, making no comment on the fact that it looked like no one had slept in it for days, and sat down heavily. "I know you and Rogue have been hanging out together."

John felt nauseous, just a tad bit light-headed, heart beating a mile a minute like it was about to pound right out of his chest, stomach dropping to his knees. "Listen, Bobby, we…uh…"

Bobby went on as if he wasn't interrupted. "Has she been talking about me? Is she mad at me?"

John could only stare at him blankly. "Uh…what?"

"You've been hanging out with her, she must be talking to you about stuff too, right? Has she said anything to you? I know I made an ass out of myself at that party but…"

After that, John really couldn't hear anything outside of the running commentary that was going inside his head.

_He doesn't know. He thinks I'm just hanging out with her as a friend. God, he's so dense…or me and Rogue have become experts in deception… Jesus fucking Christ__…_

Bobby looked up at him, expectantly. "So? Is she mad at me?"

"Honestly, Bobby, she hasn't said anything." A half-truth since, really, they haven't talked about Bobby since they began this…this…

John's inner monologue took over again.

_What was this? A sordid affair? A relationship? Am I her boyfriend? Or am I just a fuck buddy? And when the hell did I have conversations with myself like this? This sucks…_

_It's called having feelings, dumbass. _

_You're insane._

_You're the one who's having this dialogue with yourself while his ignorant friend sits on his bed…which, by the way, he still hasn't noticed that you haven't slept in. _

_Shut up._

_So what do you think? Should we tell him: no, she isn't mad at you, Bobby, because she's too busy having crazy hot monkey sex with me… Don't you have fresh new scratch marks on your back to prove it?_

_I said, shut up!_

"Will you tell me?"

John snapped back to reality. "What?"

"Will you tell me if she says anything? Even the slightest thing? I gotta know what's wrong so I can fix it." Bobby paused for a second before continuing, "I still love her."

John's stomach was now past his knees and down on the floor. "Um…yeah. I'll let you know," he managed to choke out.

"Thanks."

* * *

Rogue, Kitty, and Jubilee were coming out of the locker room, changed into their gym clothes for self-defense class. Rogue and Kitty laughed as Jubilee tripped for the fifth time now on her untied shoelaces.

"You're gonna break your neck, you know," Kitty said as she tried to catch her breath from laughing so hard.

"Just tie them already," Rogue said.

"No way! I gotta show them who's boss!" Jubilee exclaimed with as much indignation as possible. She looked down at her shoes, shaking a finger at them. "You hear that! I'm the one in charge!"

Then she tripped for the sixth time.

"I'm not giving in!" Jubilee said with great deliberation. She bent down and tucked in the loose laces into her shoes. "There! I'm didn't tie them and I still win!! Who da man? Das right! It's me!"

Rogue and Kitty watched as their friend did her version of the butter churn dance – right before Jubilee's laces came loose and she tripped yet again.

"That's it! I'm tying them!" Kitty exclaimed, kneeling down in front of Jubilee.

Rogue was going to help but was distracted when she saw John leaving the boy's locker room. "I'll be right back."

Rogue hurried over to catch up with John, grabbing him by the edge of his shirt. "Wait a second… I want to talk to you…"

"Not now. I gotta go." He tried tugging away but she only gripped his shirt tighter.

She frowned, not liking at all how this was all going. "Not now? What's going on with you today? Why are you acting like this?"

"I…I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"John…"

"Rogue! Pyro! Get your asses in here!" Logan yelled out. "I'm the teacher and I'm starting this motherfucking class!"

Rogue dropped her grip on his shirt and followed John to where the class was gathered around Logan.

She stood behind John, trying to listen to what Logan was saying – something about a six-point death punch? Yeah, Logan would say something like that. Sprinkled liberally with some very lovely and colorful curse words. But she could only stare at the back of John's head as if she continued to stare into it hard enough, she'll eventually know what was going on in there.

Everything was going so well and now this… Was he mad about something? He seemed fine this morning… And knowing him, he wouldn't say anything until she dragged it out of him, kicking and screaming…

_Hmm…_

"Got it? All right! Everybody partner the fuck up!" Logan waved them away as people started to group themselves together.

Rogue saw Peter try to get John's attention. "He's already got a partner, Peter."

John just gave her a strange look. "I do?"

"Yeah. You do," she said pointedly, as if daring him to contradict her. "I think Jubilee's still looking for one."

"Uh…okay…" Peter wandered toward Jubilee, leaving John and Rogue alone.

"What are you doing?" John asked her.

A small smile formed on her lips. "Why, I'm going to kick your ass."

"Oh yeah?"

"I'm gonna kick it from here all the way to Brooklyn…until you tell me what's wrong."

"Rogue…"

He was interrupted abruptly with Logan yelling out, "Shut your fucking yaps and get going! We ain't here for motherfucking conversation! And if I don't see some of you bruising and bleeding at the end of class, you're all doing it wrong and we're gonna have to do this again and again until you get it fucking right! Now start punching and stop yer fucking yammerin'!"

While John was distracted by Logan's rather inspiring speech, Rogue took advantage of the golden opportunity. She hooked a foot around John's ankle, pulling swiftly and roughly until John fell onto his back. His breath left him in a whoosh, not just by the sudden fall but also by the sudden weight on his chest.

His vision cleared and he saw Rogue sitting on top of him, her knees pinning his arms to his sides. "You going to tell me what's going on yet?"

"Noth…nothing…" Before he could finish, he found himself flipped onto his stomach, his arm bent awkwardly behind him. Rogue twisted until he groaned in pain. "Jesus Christ…what the hell is the matter with you?"

She just twisted a little bit harder. "Tell me now and I won't break the other arm too."

He gritted his teeth against the pain. "You…wish…"

She thought she had him at an advantage but she couldn't have been more wrong. She wasn't the only one who had dirty tricks up her sleeve.

He managed to pull his free arm from underneath him. He grabbed hold of Rogue's thigh and pulled hard enough until she slipped off of him. Startled by the move, she let go of his arm. Before she could grasp what was going on, he was on top of her with her wrists held high over her head. "You give?"

She struggled to free her hands, her legs thrashing wildly which he managed to subdue quickly. "No fucking way…"

"I don't see how you're going to… OW!" It was a cheap shot but it was the only move she had left with her arms and legs restrained…she head-butted him. Hard.

The pain in his head was nothing compared to the pain he received when she kicked his midsection from where she was half-lying, half-sitting. When she would have given him another kick, he grabbed her ankle with a somewhat steady hand and swatted the other foot away when he saw it heading toward his head.

She twisted free from his grasp and got to her feet, John following suit quickly. They circled each other, warily watching for what might or might not be coming at them.

He threw some punches, light jabs was probably more descriptive. As pissed off as he was about being head-butted, he was still unwilling to do any real bodily harm against her. She, on the other hand, had no hesitation about hitting him – on the side of his face (he seriously thought she might have knocked a couple of teeth loose), jamming her foot down on his kneecap, almost breaking off his thumb.

"Will you please just stop? Goddamnit, Rogue!" He wrangled her wrists together when she would have slapped him…again.

She kicked his shin viciously but the move backfired on her when instead of getting him to release her wrists, he pulled her with him to the mat and landing on top of her.

She blew a stray strand of hair that had escaped from her ponytail off of her face. "What is the matter with you?"

He stared down at her incredulously. "What's the matter with me? You're the one who seems to have the anger issues."

"You were fine this morning and now you're being all avoid-y with me."

"Avoid-y? You've been hanging around Jubilee too long."

She managed to give him another swift kick in the shin, even though she was still pinned underneath him. "I'm still waiting for an answer, jerk."

"Bobby came to see me." His voice so low, she wasn't sure she had heard him right. "He asked about you."

Her eyes widened, rendered speechless for a moment. "Wh…what did you say?"

"I didn't say anything. What was there to say?" he scoffed.

Her brows furrowed in confusion, his tone of voice making her feel uneasy. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"What am I to you, Rogue? Because, just so you know, Bobby seems to think he's still your boyfriend and you're still his girlfriend."

"John…I…"

A gruff voice interrupted, "What the fuck are you guys doing?"

Almost comically, John and Rogue both looked up at the same time, the same deer-in-headlights surprised expression on their faces. They saw Logan hovering over them, arms crossed and frowning fiercely. There were a few students standing behind him, curious to see what was going on.

"Get off of her! This isn't fucking sex-ed class!"

John scrambled off of Rogue, pushing his hair back in nervousness. She got back to her feet, embarrassed when she realized her shirt skewed halfway up her torso. They were saved from explaining themselves when the bell rang and Logan called out to the class, "All right, that's it for today! We start again tomorrow! And I'm going to start picking your partners from now on! Now get the hell out of here! Go learn something, ya stupid kids!"

* * *

_The avoidance dance. Yup, that describes it. _

Rogue curled up in her bed, trying not to read too much into how hard John had avoided her the rest of the day. Every time she tried to talk to him, he brushed her off or conveniently slipped away when she got distracted by even the smallest things.

She looked up at her clock.

_11:59. One more minute… _

She tried to get comfortable but couldn't help feel the tension coiling in her stomach.

_Is he? Isn't he? _

_He better come… Or I'll kick his ass again…_

She looked at the clock again, the numbers mocking her as it still said 11:59. Biting her fingernails, she kept glancing over at the clock. But glancing that way also meant looking at that damn wooden box, which seemed to be mocking her too.

Still biting her nails, she turned over to the other side, trying to get away from both the clock and the box. But then she heard the familiar beep of her wristwatch indicating it was the top of the hour.

_He isn't coming… _

_No…no…I'm not going to think like that. He might have just gotten held up this time._

Turning slightly, she saw the clock blink 12:01.

_He's coming… He has to… So I can tell him that Bobby was wrong. I don't want Bobby. I never did. I have to let him know. He has to come…_

She felt the tears sting her eyes and the more she tried to hold them back, the faster they seemed to fall. She was soon sobbing uncontrollably into her pillow, thinking to herself that the sheets still smelled of him.

* * *

She was startled awake when she felt someone slipping into the bed next to her. She tensed for a second then realized who it was when he put his arms around her waist, pulling her against him.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered hoarsely, brushing his cheek against hers. He felt the tears that had dried there and regretted not coming sooner.

She turned in his arms so she was face to face with him, burrowing herself against him tightly. "No, I'm sorry… I…I didn't think Bobby would…"

"I know," he answered her quietly, rubbing a hand over her hair. He sighed heavily. "We're going to have to tell him…"

"Yeah, I know…"


	8. The One with the Apple Pie Pt 2

They were supposed to be thinking of ways to tell Bobby about their relationship. They were supposed to be talking about what might or might not happen once they told him.

What they weren't supposed to be doing was lie in Rogue's bed and…make out.

"John…wait…" Rogue managed to breath out in between kisses.

His head lifted, both annoyed that he had to stop when things were just getting interesting and relieved that she had more self-control so they could talk with a clear head, rationally, logically…you know, like responsibly. "Um…guess we got a little carried away there, huh?"

She smiled, thinking to herself how cute he looked right then – cheeks flushed, hair mussed, the start of a black and blue blemish at the base of his neck…

_Hee… I did that…_

"You look rather pleased with yourself." His eyes narrowed suspiciously, then realized why she was smirking like the Cheshire cat. Balancing himself on one hand, he clapped his other hand on the side of his neck. "Did you give me another hickey? Goddamnit, Rogue…"

She only laughed, trying to tug his head down again to finish off her handiwork. "Don't be mad… You look good in black…"

"Stop that…" he protested weakly, as he felt her teeth nibble delicately on his flesh. He would of course never admit it but whenever she did that, his eyes would roll to the back of his head and it would take everything in him not to give her his enthusiastic approval to continue. "Rogue…"

She giggled against his neck, kissing the bruised and battered skin tenderly. Then not so tenderly, she pushed him off of her and sat up abruptly. "Okay, now about Bobby…"

"Gee, Rogue, you sure know how to get me in the mood." He tried to scoot over into a more comfortable position but she stopped him by shoving him away again. He sighed impatiently. "What now?"

"You can't sit there."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because…" She mumbled quietly under her breath the rest of the sentence.

"What?"

"Because we'll just end up making out again, okay? Now sit over there by the desk and keep your hands to yourself!"

He grinned widely, a brow arched rather lasciviously. Her accent became more pronounced the more flustered she became and, right at that moment, it was a miracle he could even understand what she was saying. Her drawl smothered over every word like molasses.

She groaned softly, trying desperately to keep her attention on something other than watching him lick his lips. "John…"

"What?" he asked, eyes wide with feigned innocence. "I'm just sitting here…keeping my hands to myself."

"I think we need to go someplace else. Someplace where we can talk and not…" She blushed furiously. "…you know…"

He chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "All right, all right. Where do you want to go?"

"Um…" She racked her brain to think of a safe place they could go. A place where they couldn't even possibly think about…well…_that_. "The diner?"

* * *

The moment she stepped inside, she realized she had made the biggest mistake of her life.

The whole place smelled like cinnamon and sugar and…apples.

She tried pushing him out, blocking the doorway so he couldn't get in. "Let's go someplace else…"

"Rogue, what's the matter with you? I thought you were hungry."

"I…uh…" she stuttered. She could feel her palms getting sweaty…and not in a good way.

"You kids coming in?" Rogue turned to see their usual waitress looking at them curiously. "There's only a few tables free so you might want to grab one while you can."

"Come on… If you're not hungry, I sure the hell am." He grabbed her hand and almost literally dragged her over to an empty table near the big open window.

Before she could protest again, the waitress came over with pen and paper in hand, ready to take their order.

John waited for her to go first. "Rogue? You want anything?"

Under the table, her leg twitched uncontrollably. "Um…I guess I'll have a vanilla milkshake and…um…a cheeseburger…and fries…and uh…could I get a small salad too? With ranch dressing?"

"Sure, hon, anything else?"

Rogue cut John off when he would have given the waitress his order – she didn't want him ordering anything if she could help it. "And I want a big bowl of chili too! And some onion rings! Lots and lots of onion rings!"

The waitress scribbled down Rogue's latest requests into her notepad. "Uh…okay… Anything else?"

John looked at Rogue expectantly. "You sure you don't want the fried chicken dinner too?"

"Um…" She looked at the menu to see what was included with the dinner.

"Jesus, Rogue, I was kidding…"

The waitress smiled, trying to restrain herself from laughing aloud. "What about you, hon? You want some pie? Fresh batch came out of the oven just a few minutes ago."

"_**NO!**_" The entire diner became deathly silent at Rogue's outburst, everyone turning to stare at her – even the cook stopped in mid-motion, his spatula hovering over the hot griddle. "I mean…uh…you shouldn't have so much sugar…"

"Okay…_grandma_." He rolled his eyes at her. His attention turned back to the waitress. "Apple?"

"Yup. I'll get you a big slice." The waitress took the menus back from them and with a wink she was gone before Rogue could even try to dissuade John from ordering her…her…nemesis.

"You sure you're okay?"

Her leg seemed to have a mind of its own, still shaking and rattling the silverware and cups that were sitting on the table. "What?"

"Never mind… You want to talk about how we're going to deal with this Bobby situation?"

"Well…we should probably talk to him together, don't you think?" She was surprised at herself that she got that out and it actually sounded comprehensible. Maybe she'll be able to get through this after all.

Apple pie…she scoffed silently to herself. She was stronger than that. Yeah, she was fucking _Rogue_, for Christ's sake. She could bring down grown men with just one touch.

_Apple pie: you ain't got nothing on me…_

* * *

John tried to concentrate on driving but couldn't help himself from glancing over to the passenger seat where Rogue was chewing on her fingers like she hadn't scarfed down half the menu at the diner. And she had been so busy eating, they hadn't resolved anything about Bobby at all.

_Girls… I'll never understand them…_

His eyes went back on the road, carefully maneuvering on the dirt road – a short cut back to the mansion he had discovered recently.

He was startled when Rogue clamped a hand over his on the steering wheel and yanked it violently to the left. "Pull over!"

He hit the brakes, the tires kicking up dirt as the car came to a sudden halt. "Fucking hell! What is wrong with you?"

She doesn't answer him. She just reached over, taking the keys out of the ignition and unbuckling his seat belt at the same time. He wondered briefly when she had learned _that_ move. But all of his thoughts went out the window when she started slipping her gloves off of her hands – still one of the kinkiest things he'd ever seen. She jerked him toward her, her mouth crashing into his.

John felt this should be making him cry out with glee (wasn't it every teenage boy's fantasy to have sex in a car?) but he felt instead uncomfortable and irritated, mostly toward the parking brake that he was digging into his hip.

This had to be the most unsexiest place ever.

"Uh…Rogue… Wait a minute… I just…" He tried shifting his weight to find a more accommodating position but if it wasn't the parking brake, it was the seat belt buckle that was digging into his flesh. He let out an annoyed grunt.

"Come on…" She opened the door, yanking him along with her by the collar. He was forced to crawl awkwardly over the center console to get through the door, bumping his elbow against the steering wheel, smashing his forehead against the door frame and almost losing his balance when he finally exited the car.

And he used to be so smooth with girls…

He managed to right himself, shaking off the pain in his head. She threw herself against him – the momentum making him take a few involuntary steps back. Her arms wound around his shoulders, face buried against his neck. "I want you…right now…" she demanded quietly as only she could.

He held her while taking a quick look at their surroundings. Not exactly the most romantic of places with its overgrown grass and eerie looking trees. Looked more like a scene out of a slasher movie than anything else – he half-expected Jason Voorhees to come stomping out, wielding a bloody knife. "Here? Rogue, the mansion's just a few…"

"NO! Right now!" She pulled away from his embrace and immediately proceeded to the task of unbuttoning his jeans.

"Rogue…just wait… Wait!" He grabbed her by the waist, swinging her around until she was sitting on the hood of the car. He thought he could exhibit some measure of control over her but really…he should have known better.

Didn't he learn anything from that little session during self-defense class?

Her legs wrapped around him like a vise, pulling him toward her. She pressed her lips to his ear and whispered huskily, "Now…"

"Rogue…" He groaned while she was busy biting his earlobe like it was the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted. "I don't…I don't have a condom…"

His hand slipped under the hem of her skirt, traveling over areas of her skin he was so familiar with. He heard her breath hitch when his fingers skimmed over the lacey material of her underwear. He rubbed gently at first, feeling the wetness grow. His mouth covered hers as he rubbed more vigorously, roughly.

She twisted her mouth away, trying to catch her breath. She was so close…so close…

But she didn't want it this way. With the last ounce of willpower she had left, she pushed his hand away. "No…not like that. I want _yooouuu_…" She moaned soft and drawn-out when his hand snuck back under her skirt and his fingers, this time, pushed aside the flimsy fabric to feel just how much she really wanted him. "John…"

"What? You want something else?" His tongue licked at her neck as she tilted her head to give greater access. "Maybe I'm licking the wrong place, huh?"

In the back of her mind, she could hear the car suspensions squeaking in protest as she danced up and down to the rhythm of his hand. The sound turning her on even more.

Then, with a flick of his wrist and a slide of his fingers, she came.

She was panting hard, his hand still inside her underwear. He grinned against her flushed cheek. "You good?"

Shaking her head, her thighs tightened around him and his hand. "I…I want…"

"What is it, baby?"

She squirmed, trying to mold herself even closer to him. "John?"

"Yeah?"

"I want you to fuck me."

"Rogue…I told you… I don't have a con-"

She cut him off. Her fingers dug into his scalp, forcing him to look at her eye to eye. "I wasn't asking, John."

* * *

"You know, that was probably the stupidest thing we ever did…" he murmured, one hand under her jacket and half-unbuttoned shirt rubbing against the small of her back, the other hand caressing the curve of her ass. "And I'm not just talking about the whole sex on the car hood thing either…"

Draping herself around him, she purred with pleasure in response. Her chin on his shoulder, she looked down and grinned when she saw her underwear dangling on her left ankle obscenely.

She kissed his cheek and told him, "I'm on the pill. Don't worry…"

Of course, she wouldn't be so nonchalant about the whole situation if she realized that she had missed taking her pills the last two days…

* * *

A/N: Whew! It's finished!! Now you know how John and Rogue got together and…um…conceived… I think I got everything in, right? Sex, drugs, rock 'n roll, apple pie… ;)

If you want to know what happens next, read _Knocked Up_…you know, if you haven't yet. Till next time…


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